Hi All,
Hope you all had a great holiday season. I’m just writing because I used a thread like this frequently when deciding which school to attend, and now that I am a proud domer I’d love to offer any insight I can. If you have any questions about what it’s like at ND, feel free to ask! Best of luck in this season of decisions and Go Irish!!
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Thank you for offering! I do have some questions. My DS was accepted REA.
How exactly does the academic advising work as an incoming freshman? I heard you get assigned an advisor in the summer and that you fill out something online regarding fall classes? Does the student actually get to meet the advisor to go over requirements, majors, etc.? How many students does each advisor have?
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what is it like for a non christian students at the school?
How easy is it to get a single room without a medical excuse?
Edited to add: I’ve heard a lot about “floating for a single”. I just haven’t been able to tell what the odds are of doing that successfully. DD loves ND, will probably apply some day, even though it isn’t the best school for her major. She loves the campus and culture, though. I’m hoping to get her into a single room ASAP in college, and it seems being required to live in the dorms for three years is not condusive to that.
@mtnsun13 Hi! Congrats to your DS! You are exactly correct, over the summer you fill out a course preference form where you can list classes you’d like and then the advisor compiles your schedule including a combo of your picks and requirements you may have for your college/major (i.e. intro to chem and calc for college of science people, enrollment in the first year experience class, etc). Advisors are very available, and although I believe the amount per advisor varies (some are college specific, some major specific) they are easily available to students on campus via an online booking system that is easy and streamlined. During the first weeks of classes, they also have open hours to make schedule adjustments beginning in the first semester so a student can change preferences. You are required to meet with your advisor one-on-one at least once in the first semester to go over all the requirements and majors and such, but they are available if you need them more (I have gone to mine many times and he has always helped even on short notice). First year advising is pretty awesome to be honest.
@user98765434567 Hi! Non christian students, while not a vast majority, tend to find a place on campus. Whether it be through student organizations, local places of worship for different faiths or simply through the existing communities it seems to mesh well. While I cannot speak to the experience firsthand, I have found some resources I’ll link below that list the good and bad. It is important to note that this experience is not without flaws, as catholicism is central to the identity of the university (ie mass and catholic prayer at events like welcome weekend, the giant mother mary on top of the dome, emphasis on Catholic social teaching and required theology courses) and there isn’t a lot of non-catholic prescence (80% catholic) it shouldn’t be a deterrent if you love the university and do not practice it’s faith! Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
LINKS:
https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/catholicism-not-the-only-religion-on-campus/
https://ndsmcobserver.com/2019/02/catholicism-at-notre-dame/
https://ndsmcobserver.com/2010/10/muslim-students-fit-into-life-at-notre-dame/
@Groundwork2022 Hi! Getting a single without a medical exception is basically impossible during the first year as far as I am aware, but can be done if there are EXTREME circumstances. From there, a student can request one easily and then it basically comes down to avaliability, as far as I am aware. I have pasted below the official ND policy, but it fundamentally would come down to the statistics of campus upperclassmen and open singles in the hall! Sorry if this doesn’t come as an enhancement to your existing knowledge, but many of my friends who are upperclassmen elected to remain with roommates so I can’t speak to this any more personally.
"Consistent with the continued formation created in residential life, sophomores and juniors, beginning with the incoming class of 2018 (graduating class of 2022), will be required to live on campus. These students can make more choices about their living arrangements, and can select their roommate(s) along with the rooms and sections where they live. Seniors can choose rooms in groups, which can mean picking neighboring rooms together. This allows students to move as a group and to celebrate – and model – the community and friendship they have formed over time at Notre Dame.
The University’s room pick process is a seniority-based lottery system through which current students renew and elect their University housing and room assignments for the following academic year. Room picks are held in the spring semester and students are first allowed to participate in the room pick process during the spring of their first year, when they renew and elect the housing and room assignments that they will enjoy during their sophomore year. Students may also elect to submit an application to float for a single when renewing housing for the following year or semester. Students are first allowed to float for a single during the spring of their first year, when they select their room assignment for their sophomore year.
Students requesting housing accommodations should note that each hall has a limited number of single rooms. Singles are in high demand, and are typically reserved for seniors who have chosen to live on-campus, and at times may be available to other upper class students based on seniority. "
@bachbend Thank you so much! That is very helpful!
He is entering as a Physics major. I know he will have physics, chem & calc for sure. I am guessing the first year experience class as well. Would you recommend the University Seminar or the Writing class first semester? Also, he took 4 years of a language in HS. Do most people continue the foreign language they took in HS freshman year? Any other scheduling recommendations?
Although I don’t attend the school, my dad works there and in response to the question about not being catholic/christian- lots of my friends are not religious and attend the school, and my dad has coworkers that aren’t religious either. Things like chapel aren’t required, and it’s a big enough school that there’s a huge diversity of students
Hi! I got accepted into Notre Dame REA. It’s been my dream for a while, so I’m super excited. I’m a bit nervous though on making friends; how did you meet the majority of your friends?
@mtnsun13 that’s really impressive! you are required to take a university seminar sometime in your first year, and I recommend the first semester because there are significantly more options and you don’t get shorted by a registration time. I LOVED my USEM and now am doing research with my professor even though she teaches in the law school. Foreign language depends- your son will be in the college of science which has no language requirement so he should be good unless he wants to double major. I decided to change my language (i was required to take one because of my college but could have placed out with one class) from spanish to arabic and it was a great decision and it definitely gives you opportunities to study abroad and immerse yourself if he wants. Otherwise, try to knock out the major requirements (my advisor recommended keeping easy ones ie art and history until you study abroad bc those are available everywhere). Congrats again!
@katherineh4 congrats! i wouldn’t worry too much about making friends- I came here knowing NOBODY. the university sets you up pretty well to meet people during welcome weekend, and you inevitably make friends through your classes, clubs and of course your hall! Most of my closest friends are from the improv team or are in one of my classes. College is scary like that, but I promise you’ll find some lifelong and awesome friends here!
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@bachbend it’s a wonderful thing you are doing by offering your experience at ND. You are also quite thorough in your explanations which is a big help for those looking to gather information.
“Giving back” is a great attribute. Never lose that. We need more students like you!
@bachbend thank you for making yourself available. I have some questions for my son.
How rigorous is the coursework? My son is in Arts and Letters and as of now is a sociology major but he may change his major. What are some of the harder majors vs. some of the easier ones?
Also, how difficult are the language classes? Don’t students in Arts and Letters have to take a language?
Thanks so much!
@collegemomjam hi! The coursework is pretty managable and malleable in terms of difficulty. I won’t lie and say it isn’t and won’t continue to be challenging, but nobody gets into ND and is unprepared for an academic challenge! I’m in Arts and Letters and can’t necessarily speak to easier or harder majors because it is dependent on your strengths. I think poli sci is reasonably difficult, but my best friend is a mechanical engineer and she thinks i’m wrong all the time! Generally speaking, I would say any arts and letters major isn’t ~easier~ but the classes can be more forgiving dependent on what you’re taking. Further, no major is truly “easy” on this campus (even art history is hard, regardless of the reputation it can hold in popular culture) so I would encourage his major to be informed by passion rather than ease! The joy is in the challenge, and if he really wants to switch into anything in his first year (and I mean anything- a dear friend of mine went from engineering to Film Television and Theater to economics to mendoza marketing) he should explore in his first semester classes and see where it takes him!
Yes, arts and letters students must at least achieve an intermediate language credit. I was lucky enough to have enough spanish credit from getting a 4 on the AP Spanish to take one class and get out, but instead decided to do a full 180 and major in Arabic (a language I had never spoken)! Language classes are of average and expected difficulty, but I can certainly speak to the language professors here being uniquely amazing. My arabic professors have been some of my favorites, and I get a massive kick out of all my courses and am so happy I took a chance on it! If your son took a language in high school and wants to continue at ND, that is super easy. However, if he feels inclined to take one in a smaller department (like Arabic, Russian, Portugese, Irish, Greek, Korean and the like) he will also have an amazing experience. I can say the language requirement made my ND journey much better and there is no way to go wrong (unless you procrastinate the requirement until junior year. that’s no good!)
Thanks so much!!! Arabic is actually a great idea!
@bachbend How was moving out? So, so sad for all of you current ND students, especially the seniors. We know one that plays a spring sport. So devastating for him. Just wondering if you could touch on your experience and what you observed.
There has been no move out yet. Students were notified during spring break that the classes were online until April 13, then notified a week later that they were closing campus and sending everyone home. Arrangements will be made later for emptying out the rooms. I am assuming the rectors will go around to the rooms and throw out milk and fruit and such.
No word yet on when or how that will be accomplished. S2, a junior, starts remote classes tomorrow. He sent in a request to the U for some academic notebooks that were left in the room to be sent to our house. His one Monday class gave him an assignment and delayed class until Wednesday.
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@mtnsun13 I think ND handled it as well as they could. This is a pandemic, and a virus we just don’t know a lot about. Imagine if they hadn’t sent students home… I totally feel for the seniors, but they made the right decision and hopefully saved some of the seniors’ parents, grandparents etc. from catching the virus and potentially death. I will say the school is great about communication to students and horrible towards parents. My parents have no idea what goes on, and they should send more emails to families updating about sporting events, things on campus etc. I have a pretty uninvolved rector, but many are very good and supportive. As designed they are pseudo parents and help us keep our sanity in times like these. I am a transfer student so I have a unique perspective having seen two different schools and how they operate. Notre Dame does a much worse job of communicating with parents is my general feeling there (could also be a good thing b/c emphasizes 18-22 year olds beginning to take control and handle their own business) but they do a really good job of having a leadership team. What I mean by this is, when a pandemic occurs like coronavirus, within a day of it becoming an issue, Father Jenkins and the top administrators came up with a plan, and communicated with students. Many schools were confusing and switching their messages daily. Notre Dame within a day said, online classes until April (later changed), go home, do not come back, we will mail things home, stay safe. Makes these things a little less stressful when you believe in the leaders at the top.
Hi! Is there any chance for someone to get into Notre Dame who isn’t super exceptional? I feel like there is no way for me to get in without taking 20 AP classes and being captain of 5 varsity sports and president of every club and having 1,000,000 service hours. Is there a way for students who are above average but not super exceptional to get in to Notre Dame?